Saudi Arabia’s benchmark stock index erased much of its early losses to close just 0.15% lower on Sunday, while Saudi Aramco fell 0.2%, a day after the attack on Riyadh airport that killed at least 12 people.
Key points:
The Tadawul All Share Index closed at 10,360.74 points after falling nearly 1% early in the session, with 151 stocks down and 107 up.
Qatar’s benchmark index plunged 1.45% to its lowest close since May 2020, while Egypt’s EGX 30 fell 2%.
Bitcoin was trading around $83,000 early Sunday, while Brent finished Friday above $104 a barrel.
Saudi Aramco stock
The Tadawul All Share Index closed at 10,360.74 points, down 15.54 points, after falling about 1% early in the session. Decliners outnumbered advancers 151 to 107, with trading volume of 2.69 billion riyals ($718 million). Aramco, which was down 0.6% in the morning, ended with a limited loss of 0.2%, while Saudi National Bank, the kingdom’s largest bank by assets, fell 1.1%.
Losses were more pronounced on other Gulf markets. In Doha, the benchmark index fell 1.45% to 8,874.73 points, marking a fourth consecutive session of losses and its lowest close since May 2020, with 38 stocks posting sharp declines and only nine rising. In Cairo, the EGX 30 plunged 2%, with all its constituents ending in the red.
Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said Saturday’s strike on King Khalid International Airport had also left more than 300 people injured, while flight-tracking data showed the facility’s closure had been extended until at least 9 p.m. Sunday.
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Analysis by Milad Azar
Operators in the region were already on the defensive amid stalled talks between Washington and Tehran and reports of disruption to shipping near the Strait of Hormuz, says Milad Azar of XTB MENA. President Donald Trump added to the uncertainty on Saturday, saying the United States could take part in Saudi strikes against the Houthis in Yemen and would act “very quickly.”
The Houthis also warned airlines, travelers and ground staff on Sunday to stay away from Saudi airports, except those serving Mecca and Medina. Riyadh blamed the attack on the Iran-backed movement. The conflict is part of the wider regional war triggered in late February by US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Bitcoin (BTC), one of the few assets traded around the clock on weekends, remained near $83,000 early Sunday, with no marked immediate reaction. Brent finished Friday above $104 a barrel, ahead of the attack.
History of Houthi strikes
Saturday’s strike was the third attack targeting Riyadh airport in a week and the deadliest incident the kingdom has seen in more than a decade. The Saudi market had followed a similar trajectory on September 20, when the index limited its losses, closing down just 0.3% at 10,750 points after Houthi-claimed strikes against the capital. Since then, it has fallen about 3.6%.
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